Big Spring Week 21.............

Hey Mom!! Whats up?

So I got your little package today. Thank you!! I looked through the little packet a bit and it really does have some good info!  That is crazy about Shawn Murray? Haha welcome to the TLM! I will send him a note or two pretty soon. 

On Saturday we had the baptism of Alena Aguilar Martinez. What an awesome experience! After months of hard work, she was worthy and ready to be baptized. She was confirmed the next day in Sacrament Meeting. The ward was very excited, and they are striving to help Alena and Matthew (her husband) to fulfill their goal of getting sealed in the temple next year.

Haha so get this. Our mission car got recalled, so Chevy had to give us a rental for the time being....guess what was the last car that they had available....hahaha I am currently driving a 2014 Camaro. Hastening the work!! Haha its definitely not the image that we are trying to portray, but its all they had. So,,,,,no complaints (; Things are going pretty good here. I like my companion and I like the people here. Im starting to see and talk to people that I have already contacted, Big Spring isnt very big and I have been here for a while now. But hey Jack, its all good (: How are you doing? How is the fam? Everything going ok? Please know how much I love you and think of you. I am excited to talk to you soon!! (: I love you!!! 

Love, Cody

(I am sure his mission president approved of this, right???????)

BYU Volleyball Fan and Honor Bee Recipient......

Cassidy had an eventful weekend.  Her club volleyball team went to the men's BYU volleyball game against UCSB.  They got to the Smithfield House about 4 hrs before the game started to get good seats,   and ended up right behind the server where the camera was on the them much of the game.

I got this close up of Cassidy with her BYU shirt on.  She left for school that morning with a U of U shirt on, so she is coming around to what I have tried to teach Steve and my kids.....its ok to love both teams :).

This is Cassidy's team doing their best to frustrate UCSB's server........in the end, BYU won all 3 sets to win the match and on Saturday swept Stanford to win the conference title for the 2nd year in a row.

Saturday morning Cassidy went to a brunch in honor of those girls who earned their YW medallion

 or Honor Bee.  Cassidy earned her medallion about 18 months ago, so Sister Dalton (general YW's president) encouraged those who had earned it at an early age, to read the Book of Mormon one more time and also complete 40 hours of service that includes helping other young women with their Personal Progress.  As a family we read the BOM again, and then Cassidy spent her service hours driving and going to the temple with Christine, and helping me with the Relief Society birthday activity.  Congrats Cassidy Drue:)!

Cassidy with the Stake Young Women's President.

Cassidy's Young Women Medallion and Honor Bee.

We are so very proud of Cassidy and are grateful that she places her trust in us
when we encourage her to take part in these programs that may not seem very cool at the time,
but will in the end, teach her so much about the attributes that Christ possesses
 that we are all encouraged to emulate.

 We love you Cassidy!!!!

A few things we've been up to in the last few weeks.........

 Cassidy decided that she was ready to receive her patriarchal blessing,

so we decided to go to Olympia for Spring Break

where Patriarch Brown (grandpa) could give her that very special blessing.

In preparing for her blessing we read through a pamphlet that was helpful in understanding

the House of Israel.  You can read it here.

On the dock in downtown Olympia.

Grandma Brown and Christine.

As we were heading off the ferry onto Anderson Island, we noticed this bald eagle perched on top of the permission to disembark sign, very cool!

We were out of town for 5 days and had left Buddy at home under the care of a neighbor friend.  We know he gets sad when we are gone too long, so the day we got home we took him to the park for some much needed Buddy time.

Christine, Buddy, Crista and Shadow at Murray Park.

These 2 girls have been BFF's since 1st grade.

Lindsey Backman, one of the young women in our ward, returned home from her mission in Tampa, Florida.  

I went with her family to the airport and noticed there were 3 other families there as well, waiting for their missionaries to come down the famous escalator that leads to the baggage claim area, and more importantly, the open arms of moms, dads, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, nieces, nephews, girlfriends and boyfriends.  Even though I didn't know these families at all, I couldn't help but shed a few tears of joy for them......... 

At the end of each year,  Murray High has a Spartonian Ball for all members of Student Government (Cassidy is the Sophomore Class President), cheerleaders, dance company and drill team.  This year she asked Tanner Olsen and he answered her back in this way......I guess its an "inside joke".  More on this dance to come......

We helped in the celebration of Kathleen's 50th birthday by going to Les Miserables at the Hale Center Theater in West Valley City (the same place Steve took me on our first date).

No celebration would be complete in the Brown/Woolf family without fantastic food and The Dodo Restaurant did not disappoint.

Camille and baby Drue met us for dinner, I loved this picture with Drue's grandma and grandpa :).

We had Easter dinner at Angie's house with the Paynters, Labits and Woolfs.  I failed to take pictures of dinner (see Brenda's blog), but I did take a picture of Cassidy and Christine on their way to church.

Big Spring Week 20............

Hey Mom,

I appreciated the letters from the fam and that Holland talk…….you want to hear some inside info?  We (missionaries) aren’t allowed to write any of the GA’s so that story about the sister missionary had to have come from his granddaughter.  Probably why he was so fired up!  But I guess he always is.  I love it.  Soooo I was borrowing some CD’s from a missionary last week and I found a Kenneth Cope CD.  I popped it in and almost started crying haha!  It reminded me so much of you!  I just remember listening to it a lot in the good ole mini van……..I made a deal with the other missionary and he let me keep it (:. 

Well, you asked me how my testimony has changed in the last 6 months and that is quite the question.  Honestly, every aspect has been augmented.  I think its because I have never really had people try and disprove or not really believe in my faith, and all of a sudden I have to face that head on and truly ask myself if what I’m teaching and doing is true.  Although it has been difficult at times, those experiences have really blessed me so much in the growth of my testimony.

The District Leader responsibilities are good………the hardest part is just feeling confident in giving advice and counsel every night to missionaries that are older than me (by 2 years!) and are losing their hair!  Any advice?  You know how much I love your advice (:.

I miss you like crazy, but I feel your prayers every day.  Thank you so much for your never ending love and support. YOU ARE MY HERO! 

I will be talking to you soon.  I love you!!

Love,

Cody

Hey dad,

Sorry to hear you had a rough week. Those just come and go I guess...I get them down here too. But I just want you to know how much I love and care about you Dad. You are my best friend and my best example. I really dont know where I would be without you. Thank you for always being a loving parent but also thank you for giving me discipline when I needed it. I have learned a lot out here. A mission really is just a big study of people. I meet so many people everyday that are just not in good situations. We are so lucky to be where we are. I attribute that to the Gospel and to loving parents. Thank you so much for providing me with both. So we had a pretty decent week here in Big Spring! Matthew and Alena got married on Friday, and she had her baptismal interview on Saturday. Her baptism is this coming Saturday at 6 (: I am pretty excited. I have been working with them since the first day I got here in Big Spring...its been some long hard work, but its so great to see it pay off. Other than thought we have just been talking with some CRAZY people. Haha I will have a lot of stories for you when I get back!

I love and miss you!

Cody

Big Spring Week 19............

Hey Mom! 

I got your letters this morning, thank you so much!! So Elder Wolfley is really awesome, I like him a lot. He is 20 and has been out for 9 months. He is pretty funny, I really enjoy being his comp. The DL stuff is going good. I call the other elders every night and get their numbers and try and give them counsel, and then report it to the Zone Leaders. Its going ok, I still feel a little bit overwhelmed, but everything is going alright so far(: We are continuing to review the baptismal questions with Alena as she prepares for her baptism on the 26th. Her and her boyfriend, Matthew, are going to the courthouse this week to get married, and then after her baptism, work towards getting sealed in the temple. It is very exciting! She is definitely ready to be baptized this coming weekend, but unfortunately her family will be out of town and she really wants them to be there. We will be sure not to lose a step during the next 12 days. 

We are now going to hit the pavement hard and try and find new investigators through our own efforts and through the ward. The people ARE out there, we just need to get to them.

Haha I will be sure to write you all some letters this week. Thank you so much, they really made my day. I love you guys so much, I am praying for you guys and I feel your prayers constantly.

Love, Cody

Because of Him

Our good friend John Dye helped in the creation of this video for easter.mormon.org.........

Happy 76th Birthday Dad!

I am 30 years younger than my dad. 

 Because I am 46, I know that my dad is 76 years old today. 

 So, as long as I can remember how old I am, 

I will always know how old he is.

I was 6 years old in this picture, so my dad was 36.  

I was an awkward 14 years in this picture, so my dad was 44.

Cassidy, Bethany, Michaela and Grandpa.

Cassidy, Grandpa, and Cody

Cody, Christine, Grandpa and Cassidy.

Cody and Grandpa.

I love that my dad loves kids...as children we couldn't wait til he got home from work so that we could play "friendly lion" with him.  He would pick us up and throw us over his shoulder like a sack of flour, dance with us while we stood on his feet, and he had us stand on his hands while he lifted us up like an elevator.   When we got married and had children of our own, dad continued the "friendly lion" tradition with them.  

Grandma, Christine, Cassidy and Grandpa at the Anderson Island Family Reunion 2013.
Dad has labored hard to help in the creating of lasting family memories at Anderson Island.

Cody, Brady, and Grandpa in Independence, Missouri.  

Dad (and mom) has started a tradition of taking all the grandchildren to the church's historical sites in Independence, Missouri where he and mom served as directors of the Visitor's Center.  

Grandma, Cody and Grandpa at Cody's mission farewell.

I do believe that my dad's real joy comes from moments like this, where he can see his children and grandchildren growing in their own love for the Savior.

Grandma, me, and Grandpa at Tyler and Camille's reception.

There is much I have to be thankful for in this life, and right at the very top is my testimony of Jesus Christ.  That testimony began with my dad talking to me for hours and hours about his own knowledge and belief in the Savior, and has continued to grow as I have watched him live a life of devoted discipleship.

Thank you Dad!

Happy 76th Birthday!!!!! 

STILL in Big Spring Week 18......................

Hey Mom!!

Thank you for telling me all about your week, it sounds like everybody is doing well. Apparently I had never listened to conference before, it was AMAZING. All the shots of SLC made me a bit homesick, but the messages were just fantastic. I loved Elder Andersen's and President Uchtdorf's in the priesthood session. It was pretty great to help recharge the spiritual batteries I guess. We had a pretty good week this week. Alena, who we have been working with for over 6 months said her and her boyfriend received an answer from their prayers and are going to get married next week and get baptized on the 26th...pretty cool! Other than that it was mainly just most of the same missionary work. Nobody spat potatoes at me though (Cody was referring to Elder Holland's talk given in conference on Saturday, you can watch it here).  Sooooo as I thought, I am staying in Big Spring. 4 transfers isnt very usual, so I guess I need to learn something else here. Elder Cutler is heading to Riodoso New Mexico, probably the only green place in the mission. Lucky dog. However, I was called to be a district leader.  Mom I am terrified. The missionaries in my district probably all have more experience than me. I am still learning so much everyday, I just feel so inadequate.  Haha I am really nervous, there is so much I need to work on. We will see how it goes.

I love you Mom, I hope all is well. Email me back fast if you get the chance! I love you!

Big Spring Week 17...........

Hey Mom!

Im glad to hear you guys all made it to Olympia safely!! Yes I am in the Odessa stake, which covers both Odessa and Midland areas. I will have to see if I can find Bro. Thompson's nephew somehow! I got the Holland talk, and I really want to save it until the start of next transfer, to help give me a kick start. Thank you so much! We find out if we are getting transferred after Conference I think, so I wouldnt be leaving until next wednesday, but I have a funny feeling I will be staying here again...I dont know. Soooo we actually baptized Kyra on Saturday. I didnt really want to tell anyone because I didnt want to jinx it like last time. Haha but it was great. Except for the fact that she was late...I was about to have a heart attack, I thought she wasnt going to show up!! But thankfully she did, and it was just awesome. The ward came out and gave her great support, and I was able to confirm her in sacrament meeting the next day. It has been such a wonderful experience to really see the changes she has made in her life. She really does have a light with her now, I am just so excited. She has some great friends in the church, and I am really hopeful that she will continue to grow with them. We are still teaching some of the members of her family, so we will continue to try and get her more support from them. It was a very purpose-fulfilling moment and I am so grateful that I had the chance to help her out, in even the smallest way.

Thank you for the Sunday night response, I really did appreciate it and really liked your advice. Haha I knew you would run with it a little bit, but please know, I am not distracted, Im just growing (: I love you so much mom.  I love you so much mom. Have a fantastic week, be safe, and know that I am praying for you constantly. I feel your prayers every day too, I couldnt ask for anything more. I love you guys!!!

Love, Elder Backus

Elder Backus and Kyra after her baptism.